Bottle with two vertical ring handles and lid

Object Details

• Description

  Clay: light brown stoneware

  Glaze: uneven glossy brown; most of lower half of body unglazed and darkened with an iron wash

• Label

  Small bottles of this shape were a common product of the Si Satchanalai kilns and probably were intended for holding medicines or precious oils. This bottle, exported to Japan soon after it was made, was used to hold candy pellets served in the tea ceremony. Such bottles were included in sets of miniaturized utensils for preparing tea that would be taken on outings to view cherry blossoms or maple leaves.

• Provenance

  To 1901

  Japanese Trading Company, New York to 1901 [1]

  From 1901 to 1919

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased from Japanese Trading Company in 1901 [2]

  From 1920

  Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] See Original Pottery List, L. 969, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives.

  [2] See note 1.

  [3] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Tea Ceremony as Melting Pot (January 31 to July 18, 2004)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Japanese Trading Company (C.L. Freer source)

  Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)

• Origin

  Ban Ko Noi kilns, Si Satchanalai, Sukhothai province, Thailand

• Credit Line

  Gift of Charles Lang Freer

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1590s, 1400s

• Name

  Freer, Charles Lang, Japanese Trading Company

• Place

  Sukhothai province, Si Satchanalai, Ban Ko Noi kilns, Thailand

• Topic

  Charles Lang Freer collection, Art, Ayutthaya period (1351 - 1767), Stoneware, Southeast Asian Art, Ceramics, Sawankhalok ware

• Culture

  Southeast Asians

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)